Amid Mortgage Tumult,
Worries About Curbs
On Borrowing Spread

By

Justin Lahart and

Susan Carey

Updated Aug. 4, 2007 12:01 a.m. ET

The recent turmoil in credit markets has put some mortgage lenders out of business, forced the shutdown of some hedge funds and virtually frozen the leveraged-buyout activity that was helping propel stocks. Now the worry is that the pain could spread more broadly into the economy by crimping corporate and consumer borrowing.

It was another tumultuous week, with rumors flying on Wall Street and the stock market posting wide swings....